Ripken Adds a Hallmark

MINNEAPOLIS â€”  The moment arrived with two out in the top of the seventh inning Saturday night at the Metrodome, when a Hector Carrasco threw a fastball down the middle of the plate. The count was 1-and-0. Cal Ripken was swinging all the way.

As soon as his bat met the ball, there was no doubt.

The ball sailed back through the infield on a hard line and fell toward the artificial turf in front of Torii Hunter, the Minnesota Twins’ center fielder.

The crowd of 18,745, suddenly in the presence of history, already was roaring long before the 3,000th hit of Ripken’s career touched down.

“It seemed like it was happening in slow-motion,� Ripken said. “I knew it was a hit.�

It happened at the wrong time and in the wrong place, far from Baltimore and Camden Yards, where Ripken has celebrated so many of the high points of his career, including the memorable night he broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played. A warm ovation that lasted four minutes probably would have lasted three times as long at home.

“It obviously would have been a great and fulfilling celebration� in Baltimore, Ripken said. “But there’s also an honor you owe the game. You can’t fudge it. You can’t show up not to play.�

He showed up Saturday night and had three hits in Baltimore’s 6-4 victory, breaking out of a slump that had prolonged his race for 3,000 far longer than he wanted.

And in the end, there was no wrong time or wrong place. It was still history, no matter where it was. Still an event filled with moments worth framing.

The Minnesota crowd cheered for him all night long, and Ripken repaid them in the end, coming back out after the game to sign autographs along the right-field line.

“I wish everyone could experience the feeling of being on the road and being cheered like a hometown player,� said Ripken, who became the 23rd player to reach 3,000 hits. “I wanted to let them know how much I appreciated it.�

In the seventh, after the hit touched down, Ripken rounded first and, fittingly, the first person to congratulate him was Oriole first base coach Eddie Murray, Ripken’s first mentor in the major leagues and a fellow member of the 3,000-hit club.

The two future Hall of Famers shared the briefest of private moments as the Oriole dugout and bullpen emptied and Ripken’s teammates raced toward him.

“Seeing a big, friendly face down there at first, that was special,� Ripken said.

“There wasn’t time to say much. Eddie just said, ‘way to go,’ and ‘join the club.’ Given the time we spent together as teammates and what he taught me about how to play the game long enough to do something like this, it obviously was meaningful to have him there at that moment.�

Friday, Ripken had spoken about how “nerve-racking� the chase was becoming, about how he wanted it over even if it meant getting the job done in Minneapolis instead of in Baltimore.

He was still four hits shy when he said that, and given that he had only five hits all season at that point, the chances seemed slim.

But then he singled Friday night and came into Saturday night needing only three more hits, and suddenly, there was a reason to believe this might be the night.

Opponents had hit .450 off Twin starter Sean Bergman in his first two starts.

After grounding out in his first at-bat, he came up with a runner on first and no out in the top of the fourth, and lined Bergman’s 2-and-2 pitch to right for a single. Two hits to go.

An inning later, he was up again against Bergman with a runner on second and two out. He worked the count to 2-and-1 and pounded a ball hard against the plate. The ball bounced 50 feet in the air and Ripken was almost to first by the time third baseman Corey Koskie grabbed it.

Another hit.

One more to go, suddenly.

“That one [2,999] went six stories high,� Ripken said. “Even I could beat that one out.�

The crowd loosed a roar, knowing it would now get at least once chance to see Ripken take a shot at 3,000.

Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly didn’t make it easy. After Harold Baines grounded out for the second out in the top of the seventh, bringing Ripken to the plate, Kelly pulled left-hander Travis Miller and brought in Carrasco, a right-hander, to face Ripken.

“I was trying to stay calm, trying to tap into my experience of playing in World Series and All-Star games, when you have to stay focused with a lot of excitement,� Ripken said. “I know [Carrasco] is a hard-throwing guy, and I knew it was a tough matchup. But I was more worried about myself. I was telling myself, ‘Just calm down, see the ball and don’t try to swing too hard.’ �

When Carrasco was finished warming up, the fans stood and cheered. Carrasco’s first pitch was wild, allowing an Oriole to score from third. After backing out of the way of the play, Ripken dug back in. Carrasco looked in for the sign, paused and let a fastball fly.

The moment was at hand.

*

MORE ON RIPKEN

Dodger first base coach John Shelby says one of Ripken’s very first hits, this one in the minors, was memorable because of the current Oriole third baseman’s reaction to it. Page 9

By the Numbers: Page 9